Donald Trump congratulated Sen. Tim Scott on his engagement Monday night at a rally in New Hampshire where many of the former president's former rivals joined him on stage.
The former president reacted with surprise when he brought Scott, 58, on stage.
“Everyone knows him and today was a big story – the biggest story ever.” “He got engaged,” Trump said as Scott came on stage.
“We never thought this would happen, what's going on?” Trump asked in amazement.
Donald Trump congratulated Sen. Tim Scott on his engagement Monday night at a rally in New Hampshire that featured many of the former president's former rivals on stage
Scott, 58, proposed to Mindy Noce, 47, on Saturday in South Carolina
The Republican from South Carolina was previously a bachelor.
On Saturday, he directed the question to mother of three and interior designer Mindy Noce, whose identity had been a secret until after the third GOP debate in November. Scott dropped out of the race shortly afterwards.
Scott asked Noce, 47, to marry him on the beach at Kiawah Island in South Carolina.
On stage, Scott praised Trump for what he said was low crime and inflation during his presidency.
“How many of you want me to stop talking so you can hear about your next president, Donald J. Trump? Four more years!” Scott chanted as the crowd cheered.
Scott appears firmly in the running for vice president after dropping out of the presidential race last year and endorsing Donald Trump in New Hampshire on Friday.
Lifelong bachelor Scott has always kept a low profile when it comes to his dating life, but after meeting Noce at church a year ago and bonding at Bible study, he said he knew he had met his “soulmate.” have.
“I've been very patient and prayerful, and I'm really excited and a little nervous,” Scott told The Washington Post. The couple plans to get married this year.
Scott said he asked Noce's parents for permission to marry her two weeks before Christmas and then spent a month planning his proposal.
He originally said he was going to ask her for a game of pickleball, but his friend suggested he choose something more romantic.
He settled on Kiawah Island, but said the cold weather made it difficult to convince Noce not to wear gloves.
Scott said, “My joke is that I figured it out as soon as I saw her picture.” But the truth was, after about two weeks, I knew there was something very different about her and her beliefs.
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., speaks during a campaign rally in Laconia, New Hampshire, Monday evening as Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump listens along with North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Vivek Ramaswamy
Scott appears firmly in the running for vice president after dropping out of the presidential race last year and endorsing Donald Trump in New Hampshire on Friday. Pictured on Monday
He said he got her parents' permission two weeks before Christmas and spent a month planning the proposal
“In our first conversation, which lasted about an hour and a half to two hours, we finally decided to do a Bible study together.”
At first, Scott kept their relationship a secret, leading some to question whether his girlfriend was real.
During his presidential campaign in May, he said he was dating her and then in September described her as “a pretty Christian girl” but still didn't name her.
His reticence prompted The Washington Post to publish an investigation into his “mysterious” love life.
The Post learned that the couple played pickleball and that Scott was embarrassed to find out he was the “weak man on the court.”
Scott's campaign manager also confirmed to the Post that the woman was real and that they even went to the zoo together.
Scott brought Noce on stage after a November debate in Miami, Florida
But no one saw Noce or knew her name until Scott brought her on stage after a debate in Miami in November.
The South Carolina senator has been defensive in the past when his relationship status has been compared to that of the last single-serving president, James Buchanan, in 1861.
“The fact that half of America's adult population is single for the first time suggests that being married or not will determine whether you are a good president,” Scott said at the time.
“It sounds like we’re living in 1963… not 2023.”
Early in his career, Scott claimed to have been a 30-year-old virgin and ran a campaign pledging abstinence.
In 2012, after 16 years in public life and winning a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives at age 46 and still unmarried, Scott admitted that he is no longer a virgin.
Scott abandoned his own presidential candidacy and has since supported Trump, putting himself in the running for vice president
He seemed to enjoy being in front of a crowd again while cozying up to Donald Trump
Noce is an interior designer and mother of three living in South Carolina
Noce is a Charleston-based design and renovation consultant. She has lived in South Carolina since graduating from the College of Charleston, where she majored in health sciences.
She works as an interior designer for the real estate company Atlantic Properties of Lowcountry.
According to the company's website, Noce learned about the area when her three older brothers played soccer at The Citadel.
She has lived on Isle of Palms and Daniel Island for almost eighteen years and is, as she describes herself, “a maker with a creative eye and love for people.”
Her Instagram account is filled with photos of her interior design work and group photos with her colleagues.